The present invention relates to syringes of the type utilized to penetrate the skin or another membrane of a human and, in particular, to syringes which provide protection to a second person from accidental puncture by the syringe after it has been utilized with to inject the first person.
Medical personnel who are responsible for administering injections, taking blood samples or any of the other medical procedures which require penetration of the human body by a needle or similar device, have always faced a risk of accidental puncture of their own skin by the needle after they have utilized it in a patient. There have always been needle transferrable type diseases which may be transferred from a patient to the medical practitioner by such accidental puncture or strike of the practitioner subsequent to use of the needle in the patient.
Historically, one of the most common diseases transferred has been serum hepatitis. Although hepatitis can be a very dangerous disease, most practitioners have usually attempted to prevent the onset of hepatitis, when accidentally stuck by a needle, by taking a immunoglobulin injection and, if the disease did set into the practitioner, its effects could be treated such that it was seldom deadly. However, the advent and subsequent spread of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has made the potential puncture of the practitioner's skin by an AIDS carrying needle a deadly event.
Numerous devices have been recently developed to cover the needle after an injection and thereby protect the practitioner from accidental puncture by the needle. While these devices are suitable for protecting the needle while it is maintained on the syringe, the protection provided by this type of shield fails when the needle must be removed.
In particular, most hospitals and similar institutions have a policy of removing the contaminated needle from the syringes such that they can be disposed of separately. The needles are normally placed in a collection receptacle such as a box located at a central location in a hospital ward and each of the needles must be removed by a nurse or related health care practitioner. Because the needles must be twisted as they are removed and the practitioner must have a fairly good grip of the neck or base of the needle, the practitioner often slips during the removal process leading to punctures. Consequently, it is desirable for a practitioner to be able to remove the needle from the remainder of the syringe without the practitioner having to directly grasp the needle itself or the base of the needle in order to rotate it.
Several prior art devices have been developed which have attempted to resolve this problem. In particular, in the U.S. Pat. to Wickham No. 4,237,882 is disclosed a funnel-shaped device to receive the needle from the syringe after usage and to remove the needle for eventual storage therein. The funnel of this device provides a wide target for the practitioner such that it is unlikely that the practitioner would stick themself during placement of the needle within the funnel. The major disadvantage with this device is that it is relatively quite large. As it is desirable for the needles to be stored in as small a volume as possible, since they require special handling, the large volume of the device shown in this patent complicates disposal rather than simplifies it.
Another structure for removing the needle is shown in U.S. Pat. to Pedicano et al. No. 4,610,667wherein a sleeve is normally carried in surrounding relationship to the barrel of the syringe but is completely removable from the syringe. In the end of the sleeve is a tool that can be positioned over the needle, when the sleeve is reversed, and, in particular, over the base of the needle such that the needle can be rotated and removed from the syringe. The major problem with this device is that the practitioner is exposed to a high chance of receiving a puncture wound from the needle when the sleeve is placed over the needle and the risk is not greatly reduced as compared to simply placing a cap over the needle.
Further concerns with the syringe of this type are that the practitioner is provided with some protection during transportation of the needle from the location where an injection is made to the location whereat the needle is removed from the remainder of the syringe. Consequently, it is desirable to have an apparatus that allows both remote removal of the needle or alternatively protection against puncture while the needle is carried. It is also preferable that the needle removing apparatus while allowing removal of the needle without actually touching the needle or the base of the needle also allow the practitioner to firmly grasp the syringe during usage.